heavy snow, thunder storms, freezing rain and high winds serving up a night they're for stranded holiday travelers. president obama aboard air force one right now. former president george h.w. bush in intensive care, we'll ha the very latest. i vigil for firefighters, a tornado in action and december surfing in the great lakes. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, december 27th, 2012. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. a powerful winter storm that

brought an odd mix of tornadoes, heavy winds and snow to the nation's midsection is now wreaking havoc on the northeast. snow and sleet have produced treacherous road conditions from pennsylvania and western new york to maine with as much as a foot of snow expected in some areas. this storm so far being blamed for at least six deaths. it's also creating a travel nightmare for those trying to get home after the holidays. more than 1700 flights were canceled on wednesday. nbc's meteorologist dylan dreyer is tracking the storm for us this morning. dylan, what can you tell us? >> well, so far under 400 flights have been canceled in the northeast today. this storm is going to create some travel troubles. it's transitioning over to more or less rain right now. but in the new york city area last night, we had some very strong storms move through. we do have reports of flooding in some of the low-lying areas as well. and we do have a lot of known that's already fallen especially back across new york.

look at snowfall totals. thompson, ohio picks up 14 inches of snow. all around pennsylvania and new york picked up around a foot of snow, with connecticut coming in at 6 inches. we do have the winter storm warnings and advisories still up across connecticut and northern rhode island and there is a chance we could see an additional foot or more of snow across new england. we're almost done across southern new england. we also have very strong wind gusts especially along the coast of new jersey an area that does not need additional wind damage. we did pick upwind gusts up 70 to 75 miles per hour but these are easing too. >> such bad timing. so many people trying to get home. well, president obama is aboard air force one right now and some lawmakers will weather the storms to return to washington today with just five days left to avert the fiscal cliff. now all eyes will be on the senate after house republicans

said it's up to them to reach the deal. nbc's danielle leigh is on capitol hill. what's the latest? >> it's another day and another standoff. john boehner may not even bring the house back to town until the senate comes up with a possible plan. >> reporter: obama leaves his tropical retreat in hawaii for a wintry washington, tension on capitol hill is on high. >> i don't so how you could hammer out any kind of a grand bargain or large plan involving tax reform and entitlement changes in a matter of days. >> reporter: serious doubt is setting in. even starbucks is getting involved, writing "come together" on its cup. speaker john boehner says he's sitting this round out after failing to get enough house republicans to support his own plan just before christmas. >> i think boehner is being controlled unfortunately by the right wing. >> reporter: that leaves it up to majority leader harry reid and the rest of the senate to find a possible solution. aides say reid's plan would

avoid tax increases for people making less than $250,000, eliminate big spends cut and restore unemployment benefits. >> i think you're likely to see a two-step process here. one sort of dealing with the immediate dynamic so you can deal with the larger situation. >> reporter: without a deal, bush era tax cuts will expire january 1st and deep spending cuts will set in. congress set up the deadline hoping it would force a compromise. so far, that's backfired. also flying back on air force one is hawaii lieutenant governor brian schatz. he is replacing the late senator from hawaii, senator inouye. he'll likely be sworn in later today. schatz tweeted he's looking forward to supporting the president's agenda. reporting live in washington, i'm danielle leigh. treasury secretary tim geithner is adding to the

pressure saying the treasury may not be able to pay its bill on monday. that could lead to a credit downgrade. in his letter, geithner proposes a series of measures to postpone the date. geithner indicates his plan would free up about $2 who billion. we now have an update on the health of president george h.w. bush who remains in a houston hospital. nbc news has learned his stubborn fever has gotten worse and he was admitted to the intensive care unit on sunday. doctors have him on a liquid-only diet. he's surrounded by family. mr. bush who is 88 years old has been hospitalized with bronchitis since just after thanksgiving. now, for a look at your national weather here once again is nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. >> well, it's been busy across the northeast, especially the whole eastern third of the country really for this holiday. we are going to see the chance

of more snow falling across northern portions of new england, as this continue continues to move off to the north and the east. we are looking at an additional several inches, especially upstate new york, into vermont, into new hampshire as well but it has now transitioned over to rain to southern new england. and we are going to see this area of low pressure continue to move up through the north and east through the day. so the worst of the wind is over. we're pretty much done with the most severe thunder storms that we've seen out of this system. we do still have winter storm warnings up across the northeast, where again an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow is possible. and across the higher elevations, in upstate new york, we could also see more than a foot of snow. that's a look at the weather across the country. now here's a peek out your window. >> and in baltimore, maryland today, 40 degrees. it is going to be a windy day but the winds will michigan 42.

miami, and texas to top out at 58. >> that's your latest forecast. it's finally going to get better on this holiday week when a lot of people are traveling. >> yeah, it seems like there's busy weather all over the country. >> it was a massive storm but now it's pulling away so everyone at the tame time will start to improve. home prices on the rise. serious head it's of defection decides to deflect. because confronts justice maria sotomayor health care justice and a fine. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's some stories making news this morning. toyota says its reached a more than $1 billion settlement in a case involving unintended acceleration are problems in its vehicles. it's one of the largest settlements involving automobiles in recent history.

justice sotomayor has denied insurance coverage for contraceptives as of january 1st the companies which say the law violates their religious beliefs face a daily fine. nelson mandela has been released from a johannesburg hospital after nearly three weeks of being treated for a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones. "the new york times" reports a syrian military chief who defected to turkey yesterday was actually in charge of the returned defection. the major is one of the highest ranking military officers to abandon president bashar al assad. and officials in newtown, connecticut have a message for well wishers in the wake of the school shooting that claimed 26 lives. please stop sending gifts. they say they're overwhelmed with all the stuffed animals and toys. meantime, newtown officials say they have a plan for all the

flowers and gifts left at roadside tributes. george coley has that story. >> reporter: if the outpouring of love and support for the residents of newtown can be measured by the growing memorials spread throughout the community then it is overflowing. john and his son aidan from pennsylvania stopped to drop off flowers on the way to visiting relatives in massachusetts. >> we wanted to pay tribute to all the childrenard teacher who have lost their lives in this great tragedy. >> reporter: now, the town is making preparation for what to do with all the mementos. and the decision is to leave everything behind for the construction of a permanent memorial. the plan is to turn everything that's bio degradable into the soil. anything not bio degradable will be turned into cement blocks. newtown selectmen added this will be sacred soil holding all the sweet mess avenues of symbols of love and hope of

kindness and sadness and promises for those lost in the attack. for those that live in the area that gets them through a difficult time it brings joy that the kindness of those far away will live on. >> we should never forget what happened. we should never forget. well, thanks to less than stellar holiday sales, wednesday's biggest losers were retailers. big name brands like coach, ralph lauren and tiffany's lost. the fear factor now up 25% in just five sessions reflecting investors' worries. now retailers are trying to fatten up their bottom line by after christmas sales marking down as much as 70%. compared to last year, holiday spending was down 1.4% in the east. meanwhile, a new survey ranked amazon.com as the best website for online shopping while jcpenney showed the most

for sats fakz. satisfaction. and a jury found it should pay carnegie melon university $1.2 billion for patent infringement. water levels are so low on the mississippi shipping traffic could come to a halt putting grain and other shipments at risk. played by patrick dempsey, he wants to breathe new life. the "grey's anatomy" star wants to save 500 jobs. and finally proves that facebook settings could be confusing. mark zuckerberg's own system randi struck a nerve with followers say it was way uncool to repost. she then said digital etiquette,

it's not about private setting, it's about human decency. then it led to maybe you should talk to your brother about privacy. video you have to see of a surfer braving the frigid waves of lake erie. plus, this crazy weather is spawning tornados. this one outside a walgreens store. dylan is here. >> the good news is there are no more tornadoes in the forecast. we do have a lot of snow and gusty winds. i'll tell new the forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. other stories making news across america. we begin were you a high-speed chase through houston. a hair-raising pursuant went across the highway and several neighborhoods before the suspected truck thief made a run for it. it was quickly shut down by a canine unit and other officers. next to alabama when a powerful christmas night by a tornado was caught outside of a walgreens store. the twister hit mobile with 135-mile-an-hour winds. governor robert bentley will tour the area today. a candle light vigil was held for two upstate new york firefighters killed in an ambush on christmas eve. william spengler killed two

firefighters, shot two others and killed his brother before turning a gun on himself. the two men are listed in satisfactory condition. a 5-year-old denver boy was heartbroken after discovering racy photos on his favorite christmas gift. >> i said, dad, this -- do you know if this is porn on here? >> we're not quite sure how the boy knew what porn was. the store took back the refurbished device and gave the child a new one with several games. a couple of thrill seekers braved blizzard-like conditions on lake eae erie. wind gusts of 35 miles an hour and whatever waves the storm could stir up. busy day in the nba. the new york knicks playing back-to-back games found themselves without carmelo anthony in phoenix.

it was different by new york pull ought 99-97 against the suns. next to the lakers, lakers dwight howard lays on a vicious flagrant foul and was tossed from the game. lakers won it. and to a team that no team can be proud of, the charlotte bobcats are so bad, they managed to lose 16 games all in the same calendar year. finally, the only football game in action, little caesars pizza bowl, central michigan beating western kentucky 24-21. just ahead, kate winslet and leonardo dicaprio walk down the aisle together. and a tradition that might be right up your alley. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back. we are still seeing the airport it's recovering from the big storm that's been affecting the eastern third of the country for several days now. notice how the temperatures across the east coast are close to 40 degrees. that indicates that we are seeing that snow already having changed over to rain. and it will be mostly rain from boston right down to new york city and it will wind down through the day. it is still going to stay breezy in the northeast, though. and as we go into friday, the sunshine returns and a couple of snow showers in minneapolis to chicago but that should not be all that heavy. >> thanks very much. it looks like hollywood is going to have a huge year. huge totals from django

unchained, $10.8 billion. jessica simpson double confirmed her pregnancy in a new weight watchers ad. >> being healthy has become a part of who i am which is great timing because i'm having another baby. >> weight watchers said simpson will not be on their program while she's pregnant. lindsay lohan has paid off at least one of the debts owed to the irs and she used the $100,000 check charlie sheen gave her. apparently, lohan didn't thank sheen because her phone was broken. finally, kate winslet tied the knot with the nephew of richard branson winslet and ned rocknroll, yes, that's what people call him, that's not his given name. it's so private even his parents weren't there. leonardo dicaprio gave away the bride.

well, it's good to see them married, i guess. >> why doesn't she win leo. when she wins an award, she's especially thanking him. >> how much would we love that. this next one comes from wowt in omaha, nebraska while an 11-year-old faced down bullies to honor his late mother. cole grisham who was teased for his you long hair. his plan was to grow his locks long enough to donate them to kids with wigs. his donation was his way of honoring his mom who died from colon cancer when he was 3 years old. i'm mara schiavocampo. this is your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> the storm system that brought all the snow and rain is clearing out to the east. just some sprinkles in the northern part of the delaware and moving through new jersey. there is some snow falling to parts of pennsylvania. we can see some snow near williamsport. the precipitation is quieting down.

we have to watch out for some strong winds today. >> 4:56. maryland casinos hoping to boost their business. >> five days left to avoid the fiscal cliff. >> we are taking a live picture of the west side. have a good night. here you go. you, too. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today.

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i am jennifer franciotti. >> i am sarah caldwell. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >>